Remotion of blast-furnace salamanders



Patented May 15, 19,213..

UNITED STATES 1,455,313 PATENT OFFICE.

v' GEORGE W. VREELAND AND GEORG-E E. WISENER', OF STEUBENVIJLE, OHIO.

:Et/EMOTION OF BLASIlv-FURNACE SALAIVIANDERS.

Application led. September 1, 1921. Serial No. 497,494.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known thatqwe, GEORGE W. FREE LAND, and GEORGE E. VIsENER, both citizens ofk the United States, and residents ofk 5. Steubenville, in the vcounty of Jefferson andv State of Ohio,have invented certainl new and useful Improvements" inthe Remotion of Blast-Furnace Salamanders, of `which the following isa specification. Y

This invention relatestoV the removal of the salamander which forms on the hearths of blast furnaces during they time the furnaces are inblast, and more particularly re lates to handling the vsalamanders in the re .motion thereof. n I One object of theinvention is the remotion of the salamanders ina highly novel manner, wherebyk salamanders are quickly removed from the furnace in aneffective and ecomanders is prevented and made unnecessary.

A further object of the invention-is the provision of improved meansfor handling and disposingof the material forming the salamander in thev remotion thereof, andstill furtherobjects of the invention will become apparent upon examination of the drawing and detailed description and by reference to the appended claims in the following specification. o

Referring now to the drawing, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation showing the hearth andk boshl of a blast furnace, as preferably equipped preparatory to blowing in the furf nace in readiness for later use when occasion demands, as for example, when preparing forrelining the furnace. i

FigureEZ is a similar sectional elevation of the. furnace hearthand bosh, illustrating the condition of the'furnace hearth at the end of the life of the furnace lining, with the salamander as formed therein during the time the furnace isin blast.

In the accompanying drawing, the nu- `blast furnace extends over a considerable meral 2 designates the foundation on which thecylind'rical wall 3' of the furnace hearth or well 4i is supported. The upper endof the lhearth wall 3 supports the yupwardly and outwardly inclined bosh wall 5 ofthe furnace. f y i The furnace is provided with the usual bcomplement of tuyer/ openings 6, an opening at a lower level, forming the .cinder notch 7 and at a still lower level, close to the bottom of the hearth or well 4, is the tapping.

hole or iron notch 8 through which the molten iron flows when'the furnace is tapped rin the ordinary casting operations, during the time the furnace' is in blast. y

By yreference to F igureZ, it will be seen that therefractorybottom of the hearth or well of Figure l, which is shown as built in Figure l, had disappeared, `and a large .cavity has formed in the bottom, of the hearth below the level'of the tapping hole 8 whichis constantly filled with molten metal during the time the-furnace is in blast, this pool of metal forming whatA is known as the salamander y As shown in Figure l an opening, nor-l mally closed or sealed by a refractory plug `9, is formed in the foundation of the hearth vor well l when thefurnace is being built or relined, the opening being located at a point which will approximate the bottom of the salamander formed in the hearth while the furnace is in operation. The provision of this opening and the plug 9, when building or relinin g the furnace, facilitates a breach being easily` and quickly made in the hearth wall by` drilling or otherwise so as to form a hole 9a, as shown in Figure 2, andy enables the metal to be run out into sand-beds or ladles, as will be hereinafter more fully pointed out.

It is, of course, to be understood that the provision of the hole andits plug 9a is dey sirable but not absolutely necessary in order to carry out our invention, asa hole for the remotion of the salamander may be formed in the hearth wall of existing furnaces.

The upper face of the bottom of the furperiod of time, usually a matter of years,

`and `during the ,time the furnace is in blast erosion of the refractory bottomr of the well or hearth 4 causes a cavity to form and gradually deepen, so that the bottom of the furnace well or hearth eventually becomes lowered t a point very considerably below the level of: the furnace tapping hole or iron notch 7.

The result is that when the furnace is blown out, for relining, aV large pool of molten metal remains in the depression or cavity formed in the hearth l below the level of the furnace tapping hole 7 during the ironl making campaign of the furnace'.

Heretofore it has been the universal practice to` allow this pool of metal, termed the salamander to solidify in place and, after it'cool's to solidification, to break up and remove the salamander, in chunks or pieces of considerable size.

Two ways of breaking upl and removing the Vsalamanders have been employed heretofore. It is still the practice, and for many years vwas the only known `method, to first drill blast holes in the salamander with air or steam drills and to then break the salamander into pieces small enough to handle, by means of dynamite or other high eXplosive. This operation is not only very slow and laborious but also is extremely dangerous, it frequently being the cause of serious and even fatall accidents to workmen, and almost invariably resulting in damage to surrounding property by flying pieces of salamander, and'forms a large part of the cost of preparing the blast furnaces for relining.

Of recent years the wellknown oxygen flame has been used in cutting or boring the holes formed in the salamander to receive the explosives, instead of the air or steam drills formerly employed.

When the salamander is of very great size (sometimes the salamander will weigh as much as 300 tons), the difficulties accompanying its lremoval by 'the old methods are correspondingly increased, and frequently part of the salamander is allowed to remain in place, on account ofthe great amount of trouble and the expense connected with its removal. In such cases the masonry forming the bottom of the furnace hearth is built over and around the portions of the salamander remaining in place.

le have devised a simple and effective method of removing the salamander from blast furnace hearths, whereby the dangers and difficulties of the old methods are entirely obviated, the time required is greatly lessened, and the cost is very materially reduced.

rlhe invention consists in the remotion of the salamander from the well or hearth of the furnace after Vthe furnace is blown out and before the molten metal forming the salamander has cooled enough to solidify.

The removal of the salamander is effected by cutting or drilling a hole 9ad through the foundation of the furnace, which opens into the cavity containing the salamander, as near as possible to the bottom of the salamander, and then draining 0H. the molten metal forming the salamander, through this hole or opening. The above method will be -used with existing furnaces now in blast by forming a breach in a suitable location in the hearth wall. When relining the furnace or building a new furnace7 an opening preferably will be built into the furnace at about the level experience teaches the' bottom of the salamander will reach during the years the furnace will remain in blast, andjthis opening will be 'closed with the 'refractory plug 9, a good grade of fire brick being used as a lining for the hole and 1n forming the plug, which will be earey fully built therein when constructing 'the furnace lining. The provision of the plugged opening or hole, as will be readily understood, willlessen the time and trouble necessary when the hole is afterward opened in order to remove asalainander in accordance with our improved method.

Provision will be made to drain `off the molten iron forming the salamander into ladies, or into a temporary pig bed, which will be constructed in a suitable location at the side of the furnace. In an emergency,

the iron of the salamander can be allowed to flow over the surrounding gro'undfand to spread over a large surface, so as to form a relatively thin sheet which, when cooled,

can be easily and quickly broken up into pieces of small size which are easily handled manually.

The advantages of our invention will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, and modifications in the way in which our invention is carried out may be made without departing from the invention as definedf in the appended claims.

-We claimil. In the remotion of blast furnace salamanders, the step which consists invdraining the metal forming the salamander from the furnace hearth through a breach formed in the hearth wall for that purpose before the molten salamander has cooled to solidilcation. i Y

2. In the remotion of blast furnace salamanders, the steps consisting in forming a breach in the furnace hearth wall at a point. adjacent to the bottom of the salamander, and draining the metal forming'the sala,- mander from the furnace hearth through said breach before the molten salamander has solidified. Y I

3. The method of removing blast furnace salamanders -which consists in forming a hole in the hearth of the furnace in building the hearth, `maintaining a sealz in said hole while the furnace is in blast, and .re-f

moving the seal from said hole 'to drain `of the molten salamander, in the remoton thereof after bloWing out the furnace. n

4t. The method of` removing blast furnace salamanders which consists in forming a tapping hole n the hearth of the furnace, at a point approximating the bottom ofthe salamander, in building the hearth, sealing said hole While the furnace is in blast, and removing the seal to drain off the molten salamander from the hearth.

i 5. The method of removing blast furnace salamanders which consists iny forming a tapping hole in the hearth of the furnace, at a point approximating the bottom of the salamander, in building the hearth, sealing said hole While the furnace is in blast,tand removing the seal to drain off the molten salamander from fthehearth, and running the drawn olf metal into suitable receptacles, in the removal thereof.

In testimony whereof, WeV have hereuntoy 

